Arkansas quarterback Tyler Wilson passes during the first half of an SEC football game against Mississippi in Little Rock, Ark., Saturday, Oct. 27, 2012. (AP Photo)

MOBILE, Alabama - Tyler Wilson could have left school after the 2011 season and made himself eligible for the NFL draft. If he'd done that, he wouldn't have been around to suffer through Arkansas' disappointing 2012 season. He also wouldn't have been able to play in the Senior Bowl, which he plans to do on Jan. 26 in Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

In 2011, his first season as the Razorbacks' regular signal-caller, Wilson (6-foot-3, 230 pounds) led Arkansas to an 11-2 record, throwing for 3,638 yards and 24 touchdowns to the Razorbacks' talented corps of receivers, which included Jarius Wright, Joe Adams, Greg Childs and Cobi Hamilton.

As a junior, Wilson became the first Arkansas quarterback to be named first-team All-SEC.

With only Hamilton returning from among the top receivers, Wilson came back, too, but the 2012 season turned out differently from how anyone would have envisioned it when the 2011 campaign ended with a victory over Kansas State in the Cotton Bowl.

Coach Bobby Petrino, the architect of the Razorbacks' high-flying offense, lost his job in an offseason scandal, and Arkansas brought in an interim coach, John L. Smith, for the 2012 season.

Still, the Razorbacks were ranked 10th in the preseason AP poll. But Louisiana-Monroe shocked Arkansas in overtime in the second game of the year, and Wilson was injured in the game, causing him to miss the Razorbacks' biggest contest of the season against top-ranked Alabama.

Wilson came back, though. For the season, he completed 249 of his 401 passes for 3,387 yards and 21 touchdowns with 13 interceptions. Wilson led the SEC in the regular season with an average of 307.9 passing yards per game. While he couldn't rescue the Razorbacks from a 4-8 finish, Wilson still leaves Arkansas as the holder of 27 school records, chief among them 7,765 passing yards.

Even though his career rushing total is minus-44 yards, Wilson still managed to average 7.30 yards every time he ran or threw the ball, a per-play career average that is sixth in SEC history for anyone with at least 900 plays.

He'll have a chance to hook up again with Hamilton at the Senior Bowl. Hamilton set Arkansas single-season records with 90 receptions for 1,335 yards, marking the second straight year that Wilson has helped a Razorbacks break those school records. Wright did it in 2011.

While Wilson is the third SEC player who has been confirmed as having accepted an invitation to the all-star game (with Missouri outside linebacker Zaviar Gooden joining the two Razorbacks), he's the second quarterback revealed on the roster. The Senior Bowl announced on Nov. 14 that Florida State QB EJ Manuel had accepted his invitation to play in the game.

Eighteen players have now been confirmed as accepting invitations to play in the game. The other players are cornerback Jordan Poyer and Markus Wheaton of Oregon State, offensive tackle Oday Aboushi of Virginia, cornerback Will Davis of Utah State, tight end Ryan Otten of San Jose State, cornerback Desmond Trufant of Washington, defensive tackle Kawann Short of Purdue, wide receiver Aaron Dobson of Marshall, place-kicker Dustin Hopkins of Florida State and cornerback Robert Alford of Southeastern Louisiana.